Horizontally divided door



Jan. 16, 1951 G. M. SCHANTZ HORIZONTALLY DIVIDED DOOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed March 27, 1945 Jan. 16, 1951 G. M. SCHANTZ HORIZONTALLY DIVIDEDDOOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 27, 1945 3 0/ J 7 wo w M M S 0 M ,w J0 Wm G Jan. 16, 1951 sc -rz 2,538,429

HORIZONTALLY DIVIDED DOOR Filed March 27, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet s v I N VEN TOR.

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Patented Jan. 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .HORIZONTALLY DIVIDEDDOOR Gordon M. ,Schantz, Allentown, Pa., assignor to Mack ManufacturingCorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationMarch 27, 1945, Serial No. 585,172

1 7 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to doors for motor vehicles and embodies,more specifically,

an improved form of folding door providing a minimum of obstruction whenmoved to its open More particularly, the invention relates to foldingdoors for use on motor vehicles wherein a plurality of door sections areprovided which,

in a closed position, conform generally to the vide a vehicle doorhaving a plurality of vertically spaced sections as well as a pluralityof horizontally arranged sections, the vertically spaced sections'lyingin intersecting planes.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a door of the abovecharacter, connecting means to pivot the several section thereoftogether to provide a complete closure.

, Further objects of the invention will appear as it is described ingreater detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, whereinFigure l is a view in front elevation showing a door constructed inaccordance with the'present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged partial view in'section showing the structure bymeans of which the edge of the door remote from-the hinge is guided fromopen to closed positions;

Figure 3 is a view in end elevation showing the profile of the door andits relation to the vehicle step well;

Figure 4 is a view in section, taken on the line 4-4, of Figure 1, andlooking; in the direction of the arrows, showing the yieldingnon-metallic hinge structure between the upper and lower door panels;Figure 5 is a top View of the door structure,

Referring to the above drawings, the side of a motor vehicle isillustrated at It, being the profile of the side curved outwardly inaccordance with the side surface conformation of a vehicle body whenstreamlined on its sides. In order that the door may occupy a minimum ofspace exteriorly or interiorly of the vehicle and conform closely to theshape of the side wall of the vehicle, the door is formed with portionsthat lie in intersecting planes. For example, Figure 3 illustrates theprofile of the door in which the lower upper sections generally at I2.

sections are illustrated generally at H, and the These sections areconnected together at the intersections of the planes thereof by meansof a yielding hinge connection l3. Within the vehicle body steps M areprovided in a suitable step well, in accordance with standard vehiclepractice.

In order that the door sections may occupy as little space as possibleand project as little as possible from the side of the vehicle whenopen, the door structure is preferably formed of two doors i5 and I6, asillustrated in Figure 1. Inasmuch as the structure of the doors [5 andit are identical, only one of them need be described.

With reference to door I5, it willbe seen that it is formed of two uppersections i1 and I8, respectively, hinged together by a hinge I9, and

two lower sections 20 and 2| hinged together by means of a hinge 22.

Section I! is provided with hinged brackets 23, which are secured to anoperating shaft 24, while section 20 is provided with similar hingebrackets 25, which are secured to an operating shaft 26. Shafts 24 and26 lie in the planes of 1311811 351060- tive upper and lower doorsections and are connected together by means of a universal joint v 2 1,shown in detail in Figure 6. Rotation of either shaft 24 or 26 about itsaxis thus rotates the other shaft about its axis, and the door sectionsI1 and 251 are thus swun upon the ax s of the respective shafts 24 and26. Any suitable means (not shown) for opening and closing the doors maybe connected to either of the shafts and preferably to the shaft 24.

A continuous flexible closure strip 28 is secured to the outer edge ofthe sections it and 2 l, the strip preferably being of flexible materialto permit the relative motion between sections 15 and during rotationofthe operating shafts 24 and 26. to secure the sections l5 and 2!together, and also serves as a gasket for sealing the door opening whenthe doors are in closed position.

The flexible material 28 thus serves In order that the remote edges ofthe sections l and 2| may be guided from the closed to the openposition, as shown in Figure 5, a bracket 29 is secured to the upper andouter portion of the section I5. Bracket 29 is formed with a pivot shaft36 upon which a guide roller 3| i journaled. Guide roller Si is receivedwithin a U-shaped track 32, secured to the upper face 3;3o'f the'dooropening. In this fashion, when shaft 24 is operated to swing the doorsection I! into the open position, illustrated in Figure 5, the hingeconnection I9 between door sections l5 and l 1 causes the guide roller3! to move in the track 32 to turn the door section i5 into the op'enpositihn il lus a trated in Figure 5, in which it lies ifia'plaheparallel to the plane of the door section IT I In order that aWeather-tight "connection may be preserved between the upper and lowerdoor sections, the hinge connection l3 may consist er a flexible strip34. This strip is illustrated in detail in Figure 4, and preferably is:formed of a yielding non metallic material such as rubber. The upper andlower extremities of the strip are received within clamp members 35secured at "35 to the respective door sections. Clamp members 35 receivesecuring pistes 31 and carrying pins 38 which are received in suitablypositioned apertures 39fadjacent the edges of the fleiiible strip 54. Inthis fashion the flexible strip 34 is inain= tainedin positionregardless of the position of the door sections and, being flexible,permits the adjacent corners of the door sections to separate thenecessary distance in swinging from the closed to the open positionwithout impairing the weather tight' connection between the upper andlower sections.

While the invention has been described with reference to the specificstructure illustrated in the accompanying drawings,- it is not to belimited save as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: r

1. A vehicle door comprising. a plurality of vertically spaced sections,means to mount the connection between the shafts, and means to guide theedges of the sections remote from the shafts at like sides of thesections to move the sections from a closed position to an openposition' in which the lateral sections lie in planes parallel to eachother.

4. An articulated door comprising a plurality of lower sections lying ina common plane when in the closed position, means to hinge the sectionstogether at the adjacent edges thereof, a

"'p iurality of upper sections lying in a common plane when the closedposition, the last named. plane intersecting the first named plane,

,yieldihg nan-metallic means to connect the upper and lower sectionstogether hingedly at their adjacent edges, and means to move thesections from acl'os'ed to an open position in which the lateralsections lie in parallel planes.

'5. Ah articulated door comprising a plurality of lowerseotions lying ina common plane when in the closed position, means "to hinge the secn herat the adjacent edges thereof, a ity '0 upper sections lying in aconirnon plan-e when mine closed position, the last named planeintersecting the first named plane, yield" ing hon' etal-lic means toconnect the upper and lower s tions ageing hingedly at their adjacentedges, operating shafts for the upper and lower sections, a universalconnection between the shafts, and means to guide the edges of thesections remote from the shafts to move the see tions from a closedposition to an open position in which the lateral sections lie in panesaralll to each other.

6. Ah articulated door comprising a plurality of lower sections lying ina common plane when in t'he'closed position, means to hinge the sectionstogether at the adjacent. edges thereof, a plurality of upper sectionslying in a common plane sections to lie in intersecting planes when inthe 3 closed position, means to connect the sections hingedly at theadjacent edges thereof, operating shafts lying in the planes of therespective sections, and means to interconnectcertain of said shaftsoperatively at the line of the intersection of said "planes. I v

2. An articulated door comprising a "plurality of lower sections lyingin a common plane when in the closed position, means to hinge thesections together at the adjacent edges thereof, a plurality of uppersections lying in acornrhon plane when in the closed position, thella'stnamed plane intersecting the first named plane, means to connect theupper and lower section's together hingedly attheir adjacent edges, andmeans to move the sections from a closed to an open "posi; tion in whichthe 1atera1 sections lie in parauel planes.

3. An articulated door comprising a plurality of lower sections lying ina "common plane when in the closed position, means to hinge the sections together at the adjacent edges thereof, a plurality of uppersections lying in a "common plane when in the closed position, the lastnamed plane intersecting the first named plane, means to connect theupper and lower sections together hingedly at their adjacent edges,operating shafts for the upper and lower sections; a universal r lelplanes.

when in the closed position, means to hinge the latter section'stogether at the adjacent "edges thereof; said last=named planeintersecting said first nam'ed plane, means to connect the correspondingupper and lower sections together hingedly at their adjacent edges, andmeans to move all of the sections from a closed to an open position inwhich the lateral sections lie in parallel planes.

7. An articulated door comprising a plurality of lower sections lying ina common plans when in a closed position, a plurality of upper sectionslying in a common plane when in the closed posi tion, the last-namedplane intersecting the firstnamed pl'a-na'means' to hinge the uppersections together at the adjacent edges thereof, means to connect theupper and lower sections together hingedly at their adjacent edges, andmeans to move all of the sections from a closed to an open position inwhich the lateral sections lie in paral GGRDON M. SC-HANTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent? sT'ATE'S' smears Number Name Date v 788,761 Erwood i May 2,1905 1,282,685 Goldhan l Oct. 22, 1918 2,274,047 Derman Feb. 24, 1942

